Weight Watchers Review

At this point in the history of Weight Watchers there are a few different ways you can work this program. I use the point system. At one time I could eat between 18-23 points a day. This is based on my weight. The program now gives me a fixed number - 20 - with 35 points a week to use whenever I want. The math is the same; they have just put the numbers out a bit differently. I don't believe it matters.

All Weight Watchers products tell us how many points they have so there is no guessing. If you buy food (and you will since, unlike Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers food is not mandatory at all) that isn't the Weight Watchers brand, you will figure out how many points it has with the point finder you will get at meetings, online, with a Weight Waters Calculator or just by typing in Weight Watchers calculator in your browser.

You also must understand that the more fiber a product has, the lower the points will be. Weight Watchers food is counted first by looking at how many calories per grams of fiber a food has and then looking at the fat in a product. That will give me the number of points food is.

There are many foods that are not Weight Watchers brands but are promoted by the program because of their low points. Skinny Cow ice cream is one brand. Most vegetables have no points. One cup of light yogurt, one small glass of wine and a slice of high fiber bread with a thin apple slice and one slice of fat free cheddar cheese are all only 2 points.

The Brand:

What I said above might give you a clue that some foods you may be avoiding now, such as sugar and salt, are not considered at all in the Weight Watchers program. During a meeting a long time ago the leader said the scientists were working to lower the sodium content in Weight Watchers food. Years later the sodium content is still very high. Weight Watchers Four Cheese Frozen Pizza has 8 points, 7 grams of fat and 400 calories. It is a great option if you want pizza.

Since sugar isn't an issue with Weight Watchers, I have ice cream and desserts a lot. This is actually a problem and I will be glad to go back to my healthy eating.

You can find these items in any grocery store. Much harder to find are some specialty items that Weight Watchers makes such as small one serving bags of peanuts. At a meeting you can now find shakes, candy and various types of bars all of which are decent.

Other than on eBay you cannot buy Weight Watcher items on line. Could I do the Weight Watchers program without the frozen food? Probably not. For me that is too bad. There is no reason I can't have a healthy meal and count points. When my husband was doing the program with me we rarely had frozen food. I had a scale and we weighed our food and counted our points. When doing this alone buying frozen food is what I have to do.

Some tips:

Weight Watchers is about points and these points take into consideration serving size. Eating 4 ounces of a Weight Watchers product will be different than eating 6 ounces of other food. Other food may add 1 or 2 points to your daily count. In order to figure out what a serving is you can use your hand if you don't have a scale.

1. Your fist equals 1 cup or 1 medium whole fruit.
2. You'll find 1 ounce of meat or cheese by looking at your thumb - the tip to the base is 1 ounce.
3. One tablespoon can be measured by looking at the tip to the 1st joint of your thumb.
4. One teaspoon is also the top to the 1st joint but not of your thumb but your fingertip.
5. Your cupped hand equals 1-2 ounces of nuts or pretzels and your palm (without your fingers) equals 3 ounces of meat, fish or poultry.

I think the Weight Watchers program is excellent and although I would like to be eating less sugar and salt, for now it is working for me. I think the frozen meals, for the most part are actually delicious, as are many of the desserts.

The company has a quality pledge and welcomes questions or comments about their products. Their parent company is Heinz Frozen Foods.

Jo's Viewpoint

I like it!

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